In the following tests, we check the drive's behavior when reading scratched / defective audio discs. The test discs used were the ABEX series from ALMEDIO.

- ABEX TCD-721R

The total error count is not too high, the maximum error loudness is very low and no samples were skipped. The good performance is rewarded with a good Test Result score of 76.8.

- ABEX TCD-726

This is a much easier test disk than the previous one and most drives pass this test with a near perfect score. Lately though, it has been a rare site to see a drive attain a perfect score as the Samsung drive did here. Very good result for both the ABEX test discs.

- CD-Check Audio Test Disc

The CD-Check Test Disc is a very useful tool for evaluating the Sound Reproduction / Error correction capabilities of a CD player. The disc offers a signal combination with disc error patterns to rate the drive's abilities to read music and reproduce it completely. Five tracks on the disc contain a sequence of progressively more difficult tests. These tracks are referred to as Check Level-1 through Check Level-5.

The tracks are reproduced through a software multimedia player (e.g. Windows Media Player). Each level is considered as passed, if the tone is smooth, continuous without interruptions, skipping or looping. The higher the Check Level passed, the more reliable the sound reproduction of the tested drive.

With this test disc, the SH-S182D reported average performance, achieving flawless reading in 3 out of 5 tracks.

- Summary

Overall, Samsung seems to have good CD Error correction capabilities.